Swamp Fox
by Metal Dragoon
Summary: The Teen Titans encounter a former bounty hunter and his partner, and end up inviting him onto the team to keep him out of trouble in their town. But having him there may cause more problems than letting him loose, as his own slew of enemies press in.
1. Enter the Fox: part the first

The Teen Titans raced through and over the thick Friday evening traffic of Jump City. They had received a call about a robbery in progress. Descriptions had pinned it down as the Hive. Robin clenched his fists as he weaved through traffic, remembering past encounters with the Hive, and the humiliating defeat suffered by the Titans when the two teams first met.

Up above the traffic, Beast Boy, in the form of a hawk, Raven and Starfire flew, or levitated, as fast as they could towards the scene of the crime. Beast Boy let out a sudden squawk of worry as his keen eyes picked out a trail of smoke wafting up from street level. The smoke appeared to be coming from the area of the reported robbery in progress. His shrill cry caught Raven and Starfire's attention, and they stopped in mid-air for a moment.

"Friend Beast Boy, what is wrong?" Starfire asked. Beast Boy thought quickly, before morphing into a parrot.

"**_Awk_**, **fire down below, fire down below**, **_awwwwk_**!" he cried, landing on Raven's shoulder and pointing to the hazy smoke with one wing. None of the Titan's noticed a camouflage schemed motorcycle with a sidecar cruise beneath them, the strains of Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" blasting from its radio.

Raven quickly retrieved her communicator and opened it up. "Cyborg, Robin, how close are you to the area? Beast Boy just spotted smoke."

Robin's helmeted face showed on the comm. screen. "Get there as fast as possible. Cyborg and I'll be there as soon as we can. Robin out." With that the comm. went dead. Starfire looked worriedly at the plume of smoke, which even now seemed to be thinning and dissipating. "We should go now, yes?"

"**_Awk_**,** you heard the man,** **_awwwk_**!" Beast Boy called, before Raven shrugged him off of her shoulder. She glared at the green parrot for a moment.

"If I find anything… goopy… on my cloak, I will pluck you." Beast Boy didn't respond, instead choosing to transform into a peregrine falcon. He circled for a moment to build up his height, then folded his wings against his body and went into the dive this species was famous for, a hunting scream ripping from his throat as he went.

As Beast Boy neared the ground, he flared his wings, braking in midair about a foot off of the ground. He changed to his normal form, and dropped the rest of the way, landing on his feet with practiced ease. As he gazed at the carnage around him, only one word sprang to mind.

"_Duuuuude_," he breathed. Starfire and Raven lightly touched down a moment later.

"What has happened here?" Starfire asked in astonishment.

"It looks like a bomb went off," Raven observed in her usual monotone.

"More like that store puked its guts out," Beast Boy said, pointing at the wreckage of a jewelry store, which had precious gems scattered around it like so much offal. There were gaping holes in the structure, and the large display window had been blown out completely. Some wisps of smoke sluggishly drifted upwards, but there didn't appear to be any sort of fire. The street outside the shop was a mess of shallow craters and scorch marks. Then Beast Boy caught sight of something that made his blood run cold. He bent down and picked up a large bullet casing, wordlessly showing it to the two girls.

Starfire's expression was confused, as most of the criminals they had encountered had used laser weaponry of some sort, with the police handling all but the most extreme cases, so she hadn't really experienced earth firearms. Raven's eyes widened a fraction, one brow arching delicately in confusion.

At that moment the T-car and R-cycle pulled up, the respective drivers disembarking. Cyborg let out an impressed whistle. "Looks like someone had quite the party here." Robin scowled.

"Have you seen any trace of the Hive?" he asked in his "leader voice". The other three Titans shook their heads.

"Dude, I found a bullet casing. It was still warm," Beast Boy offered, waving at the piece of brass in Raven's hand. Robin held out his hand expectantly, and the goth deposited it in his outstretched palm. He peered at it closely.

"Cyborg, can you give me a scan of this? I don't recognize the make or caliber." Cyborg took the piece of metal, and placed it on his arm-mounted scanner. After a moment he shook his head.

"Sorry Rob, I can't make heads or tails of it. All the usual ID marks have been filed off. All I can really tell you is that the gun this came from was very, very powerful." Robin's expression turned serious.

"All right then. Titans, spread out and look for any sign of the Hive." He paused for a moment. "And if you see anyone strange, don't try to approach them. Something weird is going on here." With that he let loose the famous, and quite annoying, battle cry of "Titans, go!

Beast Boy immediately shifted into a bloodhound, and began to snuffle along the ground, wandering out of sight. Raven levitated in one direction, while Starfire floated in another. Cyborg began to scan the surrounding area, while Robin bent to examine one of the craters. After a moment there came a beeping sound, and Cyborg looked over to Robin.

"Yo Rob, I'm picking up trace amounts of rocket fuel. It matches the stuff that little rug-rat Gizmo uses." Robin's forehead creased in thought.

"So the Hive was here obviously, but what happened to them?" Before Cyborg could answer, a bell-toned howl rang out. It was coming from the interior of the ransacked shop.

"I think that BB found something!" Cyborg exclaimed. The two Titans rushed towards the source of the sound, stopping short when they saw the scene within, eyes wide. Beast Boy looked at them, then looked back to the three members of Hive, all of whom looked like fifty miles of really, _really _bad road.

The first thing their eyes fell on was Jinx. The pink-haired sorceress was hanging from the back wall of the shop, pinned like a butterfly on display. Four knives pinned her sleeves to the wall, the blades positioned so that her arms were supported by the flat of each blade. Six more knives pinned her lower body to the wall as well. From her neck, just above her collarbone, hung a small silvery dart. Other than some slight damage to her clothing, the pixyish girl seemed to be perfectly unharmed. The same couldn't be said of her two teammates though.

Mammoth was a wreck. His face was a mass of claw marks, and his armored bodysuit was dented, scuffed and torn with what looked like fang marks. One shoulder had what appeared to be a gunshot wound, blood staining the floor around it. He was pale, but his breathing was steady and strong.

Propped up next to him, Gizmo didn't look much better. The diminutive inventors face was one massive bruise, with a set of four consecutive darker blocky spots almost hidden within the core of the swelling. Blood oozed from four small gouges, each set in the center of a single block. His suit was also torn, the omni-present goggles lying cracked and discarded a few feet away. There was an occasional crackle of electricity as the wires that had attached his techno-pack to his back sparked in a desperate attempt to communicate with their missing controller, which was still clutched in Gizmo's hands, four yards away.

"Someone has, "unleashed a container of kicking the butt" on the Hive!" Starfire exclaimed. Beast Boy scratched his head.

"Uh Star, I think you mean, "opened up a can of whoop-ass" on them."

Cyborg strode over to where Jinx was hanging from the wall, and plucked the dart from her neck in an almost angry fashion, his normally cheerful face twisted into a scowl.

Raven's eyebrow wasn't coming down from there anytime soon.

The half-man began to pull the knives from the wall easily, letting them drop at his feet. He began with the six holding the girls torso to the wall, slipping his arm around her waist when it came free. As he pulled the last two knives from under the girls arms, he maneuvered her so that she was nestled close to his chest, making it look almost accidental. No one seemed to notice, intent on gauging the severity of Gizmo and Mammoth's wounds as they were. Cyborg's human eye seemed to soften slightly as the tiny sorceress curled closer to his warmth, slight though it was, a small "_Mmmm_," escaping from her mouth. Cyborg smiled, though it was a sad smile, and gently set the girl down on the floor, propping her against the wall in a sitting position. He turned back to his team, schooling his face back into grim concern.

"Any clues as to who, or what, did this you guys?" Robin looked up from where he was inspecting Mammoth's injured shoulder.

"Well, I'd say it's a safe bet that whoever left that bullet casing behind did this," he said, pointing to the wound. Beast Boy had resumed the form of a bloodhound, and was cautiously sniffing at one of Mammoth's massive ham-fists. He shifted back to his normal form.

"Hey guys, I found something!" he called to them. He began to tug at the unconscious teen's fist, but it was locked in a deathgrip. Suddenly a black aura formed around the hand, and forced it open. The changeling looked gratefully at Raven. "Thanks Rae." The empath merely looked stonily at the green metamorph. His ears drooped slightly. "Sorry, I mean Rae-ven." Yep, Raven's eyebrow was defiantly hunting for apartment space in her hairline,

'He can be taught,' she thought to herself. Beast Boy picked up a few strands of long black hair, and handed them to Robin. "They're some type of canine, but I can't really tell what species. I think they might be fox, but don't quote me on that." Robin nodded.

"Good work Beast Boy, at least it's something to go on. Raven, is there anything left of the security cameras that we can use?" Raven glanced at the slightly smoking mounts where the cameras had been, and shook her head. Robin sighed.

"Well Titans, it looks like we've got an unknown in town." Starfire looked hopeful.

"Do you think that this "unknown" may be an ally Robin?" Robin's forehead creased.

"I honestly don't know Star. Whoever did this is obviously a skilled fighter, but…" he gestured at the Hive members. "On the flipside whoever did this is also a lot more vicious than any ally we've had." Cyborg spoke up then.

"I don't know Rob, Jinx didn't really have a mark on her, except for the dart." He held out the object in question, before jerking a thumb at Mammoth and Gizmo. "And listening to those two yap is enough to make anyone want to kick their candy asses." Robin sighed.

"Fine Cy, we'll reserve judgment until we know more. Until then, let's see what we can learn from the evidence. We'll analyze them back at the Tower, after the police pick up these three," he finished with a glare at the Hive trio.

Later the next day, Robin and Cyborg were ensconced in the lab, attempting to glean any type of information from the weapons they had recovered. Raven was meditating on the rooftop, while Beast Boy was attempting to clear Halo2 alone on Legendary mode. Robin was holding his head in frustration, while Cyborg was muttering under his breath when Starfire stuck her head into the entryway. "Friends, have you discovered anything?"

"No Starfire, we haven't. The knives are just that, high quality throwing knives. No identifying marks whatsoever. The only outstanding feature is the edges. The edge was beaten on instead being put on with the normal sharpening process." At Starfire's slightly lost look, he elaborated. "That means that the edge lasts longer without needing to be sharpened."

"Oh. What of the dart used to "knock out" Jinx?"

Cyborg growled a little, before regaining his composure.

"Whoever shot Jinx knew what they were doing. The residue in the dart was from a general knockout drug, not very powerful, and it's so widely used that tracing it is next to impossible."

"And the hairs found by Beast Boy?"

Cyborg brought up a screen that displayed a section of genetic code.

"We ran a diagnosis on them, and turns out the grass stain was right. Portions of the DNA from the hair matches that of a common red fox, but it looks like somebody tampered with it. But it's hard to really tell what was done to it. It may be some sort of drastic mutation, or someone's idea of a new kind of super-soldier." Starfire's eyes grew wide at the thought.

"But we can't really draw any real conclusions yet Star," Robin added in a calming tone, "We just don't have enough information yet."

Later that same day, Robin called the team together to present his and Cyborg's findings. As he wound down, Beast Boy raised his hand.

"Uh dudes, isn't this a good thing? I mean, this guy or whatever is obviously trying to take down the bad guys. So why get worried?"

Robin looked at the green changeling with one eyebrow raised. "Beast Boy, whoever this was took out the Hive, apparently without any problems. Remember how easily the Hive took _us _out the first time we fought?" A slow flush crept up the other boys neck as he nodded. "Well judging from the injuries Gizmo and Mammoth sustained, they got their asses handed to them in about the same manner. And you want to know what the scary part is?" Beast Boy nodded distractedly. "All the evidence points to this being the work of a single person!"

All of the other Titan's jaws dropped, even Raven betraying her shock. Cyborg was the first to scrape his jaw off the floor. "Rob, you sure about that?" Robin nodded.

"Aside from those claw and teeth marks on Mammoth, all the injuries were consistent enough to point to the same sort of fighting style inflicting them."

"Perhaps a team of warriors trained in the same style?" Starfire suggested weakly.

Robin shook his head. "I don't think so Star, even though it would make a lot more sense. But even a small group would leave some kind of trail, and there wasn't anything aside from the knives, bullet casing and those hairs."

"Dude, isn't that a "trail"?" Beast Boy put in. The other four Titans looked at him for a moment.

"I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but the little grass stain has a point," Cyborg said.

Three Days Later-

The Titans were tense. After the Hive graduates unexpected trouncing at the hands of an unknown element, lesser known crooks had begun to turn up on the steps of the Jump City PD, trussed up in zip-cuffs. All of them had outstanding warrants for crimes ranging from burglary to rape.

All of them looked like they had lost a fight with a meat grinder.

Robin had grown increasingly angry at his failure to identify this unknown vigilante, and had taken to locking himself in the training room. Only Starfire was really able to go near him without getting snapped at.

The rest of the Titans were tense as well, though not nearly on the same level as their esteemed leader. As the third day drew to a close though, all tension was forgotten as the city alarm began to blare. Robin skidded into the living room, alert for anything.

"What's the situation?" he barked. Raven looked up from one of the computer monitors.

"Cinderblock's been spotted in the mall. He's ripping up the place. There doesn't seem to be any sort of pattern to his rampage, it all appears to be random." Robin nodded in acknowledgement, before letting loose that fabled battlecry…

"Titans, go!"

Two Hours Later-

The Titans rode homeward in silence. Raven stared out the window, watching the scenery flash by. Beast Boy was unusually pensive, and Starfire had lost some of her normal exuberance. Robin was slumped in the front passenger seat, while Cyborg was actually driving at the speed limit!

The Titans had arrived at the mall to find that Cinderblock had already been neutralized. Someone, or something had blown off his right leg at the knee, and blasted a charred crater in his back. His torso had been covered with tiny pockmarks from gunfire and scorch marks, and had been knocked unconscious as well. After investigating the scene and handing the comatose Cinderblock over to the authorities, they had been mobbed by reporters asking them questions about the "mysterious vigilante" and what their opinions on it were.

As the Titans meandered their way back into the tower, Beast Boy's ears suddenly pricked forward. "Uh guys, did I leave the soymilk out when we left?" He pointed to the carton, which was sitting next to an empty glass. Starfire floated upwards to get a better view, before giving a sharp gasp. "Friends, there is something sleeping on the kitchen floor!" she whispered.

Robin grabbed a trio of disks from his belt, holding them between his knuckles. "Alright, keep quiet, we still have the element of surprise over whatever it is." The Titans rounded the small counter that separated the kitchen area from the common room, to find a large, furry black shape curled up on the floor. "What is it?" Starfire asked floating closer, one hand glowing with a starbolt.

"It looks like a fox," Raven said quietly. Suddenly, the canine opened one amber eye, and looked lazily at Starfire. It raised its head up a few centimeters, but didn't show any sort of alarm. Instead, it rolled over so that it was on its back, before giving the young alien an expectant look. Starfire looked nervously at the huge fox, then to her teammates. "What is it that he wants friends?" Cyborg was rubbing his chin.

"I…think… he wants… a belly rub?" As Starfire cautiously bent forward to rub the large canine's stomach, a choked snore emanated from the couch. Five heads whipped around to lock on the sound, and Beast Boy, who was closest to the couch, began to tip-toe over, holding a finger to his mouth to shush the others. He cautiously poked his head over the couch…

_Poink_

And found a circular chrome gun-barrel sticking up his nose. "Friend, don't you know better than to try to sneak up on a napping fox?" the owner of the gun drawled. He was lying stretched out on the couch, his wide-brimmed hat, almost a fedora but not quite, pulled down to shadow his face, and his booted feet propped up on a couple of pillows. A brown duster was pulled tight around him, with his other arm still crossed over his chest like the one holding the gun had been. Except for the gun, the hand which held it being covered by a black half-glove, he appeared to be perfectly asleep.

Immediately the gun was surrounded by Raven's signature aura. The man let it go easily, not moving an inch. "If ya wanted me to put them fucking thing down, all you had to do was ask dammit." His tone of voice was pleasant, if a bit gruff, despite the foul language.

"Who are you!" Robin demanded harshly. A low growl accompanied a hard yank on his cape as he fell over backwards, not expecting the attack. He landed in a tangle, and looked up to see the huge fox standing over him, teeth half-bared. The fox shook its head at the young hero, the look in its eyes half amusement and half stern warning. The teen on the couch sat up slowly, turning to face the Titans.

He had on a pair of mirrored sunglasses, which hid his eyes, and the wide brimmed hat was now tilted at a rakish angle on his head. His face was somewhat angular, almost chiseled but not quite, and his lips were quirked in amusement. A scraggly goatee clung to his chin, the brown hairs matching the bangs that hung beneath the hat. All in all he looked like he was in his late teens.

"Easy there birdbrain, Inari doesn't like people threatening his partner." The intruders voice was marked by a slight western accent, though not very thick. "As for who I am…" The teen tipped his hat slightly. "The name's Jim Kheen, aka the Swamp Fox."

The boy suddenly found his lanky form hanging in midair, alongside his canine companion, surrounded by black auras. "I'm…sensing some hostility here," the older teen remarked to his companion. The fox shot him a pained look, as if asking his partner not to make the very powerful teens who had them helpless any more mad.

"How did you get in here?" Raven demanded, her eyes glowing white from use of her powers.

"I came in through the roof, then opened up the ground floor doors to let Inari in."

"How is it that you came through the roof, when there is no hole in it?" Starfire was slightly confused by the terminology the stranger had used, and it showed on her face.

"I climbed up the tower and picked the lock on the roof door. Incidentally," he spoke towards Robin, "you might want to consider upping the security up there. I could have picked that lock with a gum wrapper and my thumbnail."

"Wait a minute, you climbed the tower? Dude, that's impossible!" Beast Boy exclaimed, flapping his arms for emphasis. Jim grinned.

"I've needed to break into a few places in my line of work," he said flippantly. If he could have moved he would have been examining his fingernails.

"What 'line of work' do you mean?" Robin asked suspiciously. Beast Boy cut in at that moment.

"Uh dude, maybe we should tie them up or something, you know, instead of interrogating them like this?"

"Why?"

Beast Boy thought for a moment. "It just doesn't seem right."

"I got just the thing," Cyborg declared. He retrieved a small raygun-type device from a hidden compartment in his arm, and aimed it at the two intruders. "Picked this little gadget offa Gizmo's techpack," he smirked. He fired the gun, and instead of some sort of deathray or explosion, a large yellowish bubble formed on the end of the barrel. It floated lazily towards the two, and enveloped them completely, enlarging as it went so that there was still plenty of room in it.

"HEY!" Jim protested, as his coat was forcibly removed from him by the black aura, exposing the two cross-draw holsters and knife sheath strapped to his thigh beneath. "I have a permit for those," he said quickly. They were also removed by Raven's magic. All of the items floated out of the bubble, and then the aura dropped from the two. Jim immediately began to pat himself down, searching for a missed weapon, then sighed and slumped into a sitting position. "I feel naked without my weapons," he muttered.

Cyborg picked up the duster, looking curiously at Raven. "Yo Rae, why'd you take his…" he trailed off as the coat limply fell open, exposing an arsenal beneath that would have made most ninjas jealous.

"That's why," Raven said in her indifferent tone. Beast Boy began to rummage through the coat, calling out his findings aloud.

"Lots of knives… knife with flashlight in it… stun-gun…brass knuckles… more knives… weird bracelet thingys… ammo clips… even _more _knives… mp3 player… knife with some sort of doohickey in the handle…zip-cuffs… pocket sized copy of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book"…climbing spikes… **_more knives!_**... flare gun… some sort of grenades…"

"Smokescreen," Jim corrected absently. He was sitting cross-legged now, holding his chin in one hand as he watched the changeling go through his coat. "And a few flashbangs, knockouts and emergency flares, just for variety," he added. Robin gave him a hard stare from behind his mask.

"What kind of business are you in anyway?" The reply he got was almost bored.

"Bounty hunter. Well, former bounty hunter anyway. I kind of put someone's muscle away, so they pulled a few strings to get my license pulled."

"And that explains why you're hauling around enough weapons to start your own personal gang war," Raven snorted.

"I specialized in taking down meta-human bounties."

There was silence for a moment.

"Robin, what is a…'meta-human'?"

"Your green friend there for one," Jim said, leaning back against the fox, who had curled up as if being trapped in a giant bubble was the most normal thing in the world.

"You shall not harm friend Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed, her eyes lighting up in her fury at this perceived threat to her friend. Jim rolled his eyes.

"I was using slim there as an example! Sheesh! Anyway, a meta-human is any human who comes to posses more than human power, through one source or another. Usually through some sort of mutation."

Starfire calmed down slightly, the emerald glow fading from her eyes. "Then why have you invaded our home?"

"I think that's the question of the day Star," Robin growled.

"I came to get my knives back alright? They're my favorites." Robin smirked grimly.

"Nice try, but if that were true you would have left before we got back." Jim rolled his eyes once more.

"Yeah, if I had actually been able to get to them. But some paranoid asshole put a genetic lock on the evidence vault, so I figured I might as well wait around." Cyborg looked at Robin, his one eyebrow raised.

"Genetic lock?" Robin had the good grace to look a little ashamed.

"I had it installed after the Red X incident," he protested feebly.

"That's all very nice, but can you let me out now?" Jim asked crossly.

"I don't think so, you pulled a gun on Beast Boy after all."

"Yeah, a dart gun! And the damn thing wasn't even loaded! Besides, he sneaked up on me! Wouldn't you have reacted the same way?"

Beast Boy looked up from where he was flipping through the pocket book. "I would've." The other Titans stared at him. "What? Sleeping in a strange, possibly hostile territory, being surprised like that, I would have reacted in the same way. It's only instinctual after all."

"Did... _Beast Boy_...just use a four syllable word?" Raven asked, raising one eyebrow. Cyborg nodded blankly. Inside the bubble, Inari began to make a low choking growl in the back of his throat. Beast Boy shot the fox a look.

"Yeah yeah, yuk it up. Carnivores," he muttered, before returning to the book. Raven's eyebrow disappeared into her hairline once more.

"Allllright."

At that moment the alarm began to blare once more. "Twice in one day!" Cyborg asked incredulously. Robin strode over to the computer, and with a few deft key strokes, brought a picture onscreen. Starfire choked on a gasp, as the Boy Wonder paled. Beast Boy muttered an oath under his breath, so lightly that only Cyborg's enhanced hearing, and the sharp ears of Inari caught it. Raven remained stoic, but her eyes betrayed her shock.

On the huge screen, Blackfire was hovering over a scene of destruction, laughing.


	2. Enter the Fox: part the second

AN:Guys, this is a gift to all of my readers, a going away present, you might say. For those of you who haven't heard, I'm going to be going into Basic training in the Navy on the 24th. I'm going to try and update my Harry Potter story one more time before I leave, and then 'm going to be going silent for 2+ months. But never fear, I shall return!

The reaction of the Titans after that one instant of shock was predictable. Robin shook his head, as if clearing cobwebs. "We'll figure out how she got here later, right now we have to stop her." He looked over at Starfire. "Star, if you want to sit this one out…" he let it hang for a moment. The pretty alien girl shook her head, her hair falling to obscure her face.

"No Robin. I do not know why my sister has returned, but she _must _be stopped!" her gaze was fiery as she lifted her head, her eyes aglow.

Up in the bubble, Jim exchanged a look with Inari, who merely shrugged as it to say, "Idunno".

Beast Boy jerked his thumb at the two intruders. "What about these guys?" Robin shook his head.

"No time, we'll deal with them later. Titans, _GO_!" Jim watched as the team raced for the elevator. He turned to look at Inari.

"Methinks they may need our help partner." Inari cocked an eyebrow. "Chalk it up to gut instinct. And you know how well that's served us so far." The fox nodded in understanding. Jim tapped the side of the globular prison experimentally, then smirked. 'You think you got all my weapons, but a fox is never unarmed so long as he retains his cunning,' he thought.

Jim's eyes fell on the screen once more, and his entire demeanor changed, becoming cold as the Artic pack-ice, and not nearly so forgiving. "Let's crack this thing partner, I just got a sudden urge to hurt someone."

Five Minutes Later-

The T-car pulled up to the scene, coming to a sliding, screeching halt behind what had once been a fairly nice Dodge pick-up. Now it looked like Godzilla had made it his personal chew-toy, then tossed it aside. The Titans disembarked quickly, scanning the area for Blackfire even as they fell into their usual battle formation.

Robin and Beast Boy were on point. Batman's protégé coiled like a wound spring, and Beast Boy's senses were on high alert. His animal instincts were just screaming warnings at him. Starfire followed close to Robin, hovering slightly, her expression anxious. Cyborg and Raven followed behind, his arm cannon cocked and ready, treading as lightly as he could, while the goth seemed just the slightest bit edgy, her eyes darting from place to place. A derisive laugh cut through the air, all of the Titans whirling to face the source of the noise.

"Well, it looks like my little sister decided to show her face after all. And look, she brought her friends too." Blackfire was nowhere in sight, her voice bouncing off of the wreckage to echo oddly around the Titans, seeming to come from everywhere at once. Starfire floated up a little higher, trying to find the her sister.

"Sister, why do you do these things? I do not wish to fight you!"

Blackfire's answer was scornful. "Always the good-girl, aren't you, _sister_?" Blackfire's tone was acid on the last word. "You took away my rightful place as ruler of Tamaran! I will make you **_suffer _**for that!" A vein in Robin's forehead began to throb.

"Why not come out and get this over with Blackfire! Quit hiding like a coward!" he shouted. The black-haired alien's reply was sickeningly sweet.

"Of course Robin, how silly of me to think that I could put off a confrontation with the _great _Boy Wonder," she cooed sarcastically. As she spoke, she drifted into view.

As one, the Titan's blood ran cold, as they saw what had so enraged the Swamp Fox.

A little girl was being held aloft by Blackfire, the dark alien's hand wrapped around her throat. In her other hand lay a violet starbolt, held precariously close to the child's head. The little prisoner gave a feeble whimper, no longer possessing the strength to make any kind of attempt to free herself, her eyes rolling in pure primal fear. "As you can see, I've made a little friend of my own since I arrived," Blackfire said in a conversational tone.

Starfire's mouth was agape in an expression of abject horror, while a deep rumbling growl was issuing from Beast Boy's throat. Raven's demeanor was even more stony that usual, while Robin and Cyborg had assumed grim expressions. "But she's not the only friend I've made," Blackfire said in a darkly mischievous tone. She gave an odd pitched whistle, which was interspersed with a number of strange clicks.

Around the Titans, piles of rubble began to shift, exposing horrible monstrosities. They were humanoid, but their bodies were covered by a hairy sort of chitin, like the body of a fly, or cockroach. Their arms were numerous, ranging in number from four to seven, and all of them had at least two tentacles, reminiscent of the hunting arms on a squid, lined with suckers, as well as vicious looking barbs. Their heads were reminiscent of tigers. But instead of fur, they were covered by scabrous looking scales, which oozed some sort of slime, and their jaws were vicious, insectoid mandibles. There were twelve of them in all.

"Blargian Raveners!" Starfire gasped. Blackfire cackled once more.

"Right you are sister. I happened across a bounty hunter who used to use them to hunt down bounties for him. He won't be needing them anymore, so I decided to 'borrow' them."

"Star, what are these things?" Robin asked in a worried voice.

"They are Blargian Raveners Robin, horrible creatures, created as weapons with only one purpose; to kill."

"And they're about to fulfill their reason for existence," Blackfire sneered. She pointed at the Titans, and gave an odd wavering cry. The Raveners looked at Blackfire, then at the Titans, before taking up the same cry and beginning to advance on the teen heroes.

"Aww hell," Cyborg muttered, aiming his cannon. Beast Boy shifted into a raptor, hoping that the carnivorous dinosaur's natural speed and ferocity would give him an edge. He snarled a challenge at the aliens, daring them to attack. Raven began to chant, pieces of debris lifting up in preparation of a strike, while Starfire's eyes began to glow fiercely, her fists lighting up. Robin withdrew a trio of explosive disks from his belt, gripping them between the knuckles.

As the five teens prepared for what promised to be a terrible fight, three cylindrical canisters flew through the air, landing with a 'clang' at Blackfire's feet. All she managed to get out was a "**_What in the_**…!", before all three cans exploded in incandescent bursts of white light, spewing out thick billows of black smoke before the flash had faded.

Blackfire threw up her hands to shield her eyes from the light, dropping her hostage in the process. A lithe form dashed through her legs, gently catching the child in strong jaws, before dashing to the safety of the shadows. As Blackfire and the Titans strained to see through the afterimage from the flares, and the thick smoke as well, two shots rang out, and one of the Raveners gave a sharp keening cry, falling into a heap. As the smoke began to clear another dropped, a knife handle sticking from between its beady eyes. Close by a radio, perhaps jolted by the concussions of the strange flash grenades, began to play, the opening chords of Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" sounding eerie in the sudden stillness that had descended. As the last of the smoke cleared away, a figure could be seen.

His coat flapped about him like a cape, while his hands clutched a pair of smoking pistols. The light of the sun, just beginning to sink, flashed off of mirrored lenses for a split second, before they went dark. His hat was slightly tilted to the side, and his jaw was set in the pugnacious manner of a man ready to fight, his goatee bristling slightly. He pointed on of the guns straight at Blackfire. "_Bitch, you and I have a **problem**_," he snarled. Blackfire's eyes flashed, before she reined in her temper, studying the newcomer intently, arms akimbo.

"And who might you be, tall dark and threatening?" Jim quite casually bent his head and removed his sunglasses. As he straightened, Blackfire and the Titans got their first good look at his eyes. One was a vibrant green, while the other was a dark hazel. Both were glinting fiercely.

"Let's just say there's a new predator in the urban jungle," he growled lowly.

At that precise moment the Ravener he had shot lurched upwards, scrabbling towards the bounty hunter with astonishing speed for something so awkward looking. Without even flinching, Swamp Fox emptied both clips into the beast at nearly point blank range, dropping the alien predator in a twitching heap.

As that happened, the other Raveners shook off the stupor the smoke had induced, and turned towards this interloper, who had killed their clutch-mates, their mandibles clicking in agitation and anger. Swamp Fox ignored them, holstering his pistols before slipping a set of deadly looking spiked brass knuckles over his hands. "Shall we dance?" he asked mockingly. The nearest Ravener responded by swiping at him with one of its tentacles. Swamp Fox danced out of the way as the Titans shook off their shock at seeing him out and about, and regrouped.

"Titans, GO!" Robin cried. Cyborg aimed his arm cannon at one of the Raveners, and blasted it into a pile of debris.

"BOO-_WOAH_!" His victory shout was interrupted by another Ravener attempting to tear his arm off. The alien beast's barbs produced sparks as they skidded over the metallic part of his lower arm. "That had better buff out," Cyborg growled, swinging around with a vicious left hook. He connected, then made a face as his fist was coated in the slime that oozed from the Ravener's body. "_Ew-yuch_!"

Blackfire scowled as she watched the Titans engage her little "pets". Beast Boy had kept his raptor form, and was dashing in and out of reach of one of the creatures, claws ripping and tearing as he constantly circled around it in a tactic as old as time, keeping it confused and off balance. Raven had used her powers to levitate a downed streetlight, and was using it as a sort of bat, while Robin was keeping his distance, peppering his own target with bird-a-rangs and various disks. Her scowl changed to a vicious grin as she saw her sister coming towards her, fists alight, and a battle cry hovering on her lips. Unfortunately for Starfire, the last two Raveners converged on her, lashing out with their tentacles.

Starfire gave a shrill shriek as she saw one of the barbed appendages whip towards her, and Robin shouted her name in alarm, but they were both drowned out by a keening wail from the Ravener as a pencil thin beam of red light lanced out of nowhere, and severed the appendage with a sickening sizzle. The afflicted beast dropped to the ground, curling around the stump of its tentacle in pain, while Starfire managed to knock the other away with a barrage of starbolts. Blackfire grunted in disappointment and surprise, and lifted a hand to throw a starbolt of her own.

However, that action was stopped in its tracks by a punch that rattled her teeth in their sockets. She staggered back to find Swamp Fox in font of her, his arm still raised from the uppercut he had just delivered. In the background, the radio suddenly went dead, more than likely crushed by the Ravener that Raven had sent flying into a car.

"You know, I'm not usually one to get in the middle of a sibling spat, but somethin' 'bout you just _pisses _**me _off_**!" Swamp Fox ground out. Blackfire's eyes began to glow dangerously.

"How dare you strike me!" she yelled, pitching several starbolts at the ex-bounty hunter. He bobbed and ducked around and under them, flinging several knives back at the alien with smooth underhand casts, his brass knuckles not seeming to hamper him in the least. He was fast, and though not as acrobatic as Robin, he managed to bob and weave around every attack Blackfire threw at him, using his duster like a cape, it's length hiding his movements before he made them, all the while keeping up a steady stream of trash talk.

"Come on, quit trying to hit me and hit me!" he called as he preformed a handspring over a starbolt, releasing another knife in mid-air. She dodged, but saw a few strands of hair flutter away, and growled in rage, before trying to punch the annoying teen in the face.

"You call that a punch? That thing couldn't even break wind!" he mocked, ducking under the attack and retaliating with a snap kick to her midriff. She arched inwards, avoiding the blow, and gritted her teeth, eyes and fists glowing in fury.

"Stand still so I can crush you!" she bellowed. As she began to prepare a point blank assault of starbolts, a stream of blue sonic energy came out of nowhere, cutting through the small space between the two combatants.

"I got a better idea," Cyborg said grimly, "How bout both of you just chill?" Behind him Raven had constructed a cage out of debris, which contained the remaining Raveners. During the battle Beast Boy had shifted into the form of a mountain lion, and was now licking at a nasty looking wound on his foreleg. Robin and Starfire were backing up Cyborg, the first as grimfaced as the half-machine, while the second looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and die.

Naturally, Swamp Fox didn't relax at all. He kept the knives he had clenched between his fingers ready, and his stance announced louder than words that there was no way in hell he was going to "chill out" with such a dangerous enemy this close. Blackfire's expression was one of sulking anger, but it changed to a look of mild cunning she quickly disguised. Swamp Fox caught it though. "I wouldn't do it if I were you," he growled, "unless of course you want a hole blasted through your stomach. But that's up to you of course." Cyborg looked disgusted at that last part.

"Dude, my weaponry is sound based. It won't kill." Jim rolled his eyes

Blackfire smirked, her normal cool and collected attitude reasserting itself. "What's the matter little sister," she called to Starfire, "Can't bear to fight your own battles anymore?" Starfire's expression grew even more pained at her sister's taunting. That vein on Robin's forehead was back now, with a vengeance.

Starfire floated a little closer to her sister. "I do not understand you sister, why must you try to hurt me like this? I did not wish to fight you before, and I do not wish it now!"

"I on the other hand, have absolutely no problem with kicking your shapely ass up and down this street for the next several hours," Jim piped up.

Blackfire looked around. Raven was preoccupied with keeping the Raveners contained, while Beast Boy had limped to the frontline and was glaring at her through fierce feline eyes. Robin was gripping his bo so tightly that his hand was shaking, his teeth gritted together. Cyborg on the other hand, merely looked coolly at the alien girl, his cannon primed and ready. Starfire… just thinking about the hangdog expression on the face of her "sister" made the older princess' blood boil. A small sob caught her attention then, and she slowly turned her head. Where…there!

Hidden somewhat in the shadows of a debris choked alley, the small girl from before huddled fearfully against a large black animal of some sort, who gently licked the child's forehead before seeming to sense the alien's malignant eyes. He tensed, and turned his eyes in her direction, amber orbs shining lamp-like in the shadows, as he twined around the girl so that he was facing the alien, protecting the small child. Blackfire saw her last chance to make at least a bid for freedom.

She fired a starbolt at the ground in front of her, kicking up a cloud of dust. Swamp Fox began to cough, not expecting this tactic, and Cyborg was forced to hold his fire for fear of missing and hitting Swamp Fox or the little girl. Blackfire smirked as she made the dash towards the alley entrance. She'd have control of the situation again, and then she'd escape, to formulate a new plan.

As she neared the darkness that marked the entrance however, a snarling shadow leapt at her, and knocked her back. It was gone as fast as it came, but Blackfire caught a glimpse of a white tuft of fur on the end of a bushy tail. Blackfire tried to get up, but every time she rose even slightly, a beam of red lanced out of the darkness around her, knocking her to the ground once more, and singeing her skin. Each time the blast came from a different direction, and was sometimes followed by a second attack. Eventually, after five tries to rise, and eight blasts from her concealed attacker, she managed to rise slightly without getting hit.

Then Jim was on her again.

"I told you not to try anything," Swamp Fox growled. He flipped a thin baton out of his duster, slipping his brass knuckles off in a single practiced move as he did so, before shrugging out of his duster. It fell to the ground with a muffled 'clank'. Blackfire began to push off from the ground.

He made his move.

He lashed out with the baton, striking Blackfire across the cheek, saying "Don't."

Before she could gather her wits, he lashed out again, this time catching her across the opposite cheek, "Ever."

Two more strikes, each one so fast they appeared to be a flicker of black and gray, striking her across her throat and then over the head. "Try…That."

He twirled the baton through his fingers once, and the end split open as he did so, revealing it was actually a powerful taser. He jammed it into the girls midriff, and she began to writhe in pain as powerful jets of current lanced through her body. She screamed, the sound seeming to be ripped from her very soul.

After what seemed like hours, but was in reality only about thirty seconds, he removed the device and Blackfire collapsed in a twitching heap. Jim looked down at her. "Again," he finished, tucking the taser through his belt. He didn't even flinch as he felt the tip of Robin's staff press into his back.

"What are you?" The masked teen asked, his voice filled with suspicion, and a healthy dose of apprehension. Jim ignored him. Inari slipped out of the shadows, and picked up his partner's duster in his jaws. The fox trotted over and held it out to the bounty hunter, who took it and slipped it on, still ignoring Robin. Beast Boy shifted back to his normal form, and glared at the older teen.

"Dude, he asked you a question," the changeling snapped.

Jim turned to face the two, casually took his sunglasses out, and flipped them open. As he was putting them on, he gave the Titans a level gaze over the lenses, before slipping them fully onto his face. His voice was completely flat as he spoke.

"Me? I'm just am ex-bounty hunter."

With that he turned and entered the alley. He knelt down next to the small girl, and began to talk gently to her. Inari merely lay at her side, the girl seeming to find comfort in the predator's presence.

Robin got a strange look on his face as he took in the scene, before looking over his shoulder at the rest of his team. Starfire was looking sadly at her sister, before looking at Jim with a look torn between anger, for hurting her sister like that, and respect for his obvious battle prowess and compassion. Cyborg had retracted his sonic cannon and was looking around at the damage, shaking his head. Raven had left the Raveners sealed in a dome of debris she had fused together with her powers, and was now helping Beast Boy with his wound, using her powers to mend the torn flesh as best she could. After a moment they joined their leader, the green teen cradling his injured arm, which was still quite tender.

Cyborg took a close look at Robin, whose expression had changed from the strange look of earlier, to a calculating one. He was looking at Jim, who had quite deliberately turned his back to the Titans. The half machine shook his head in resignation.

"You know that he could turn out to just be bad news," Raven said, assessing her leader's mood and intent with her normal precision. Beast Boy looked confused for a moment, before understanding dawned.

"Dude, you're seriously thinking of…"

"Robin, are you sure that this would be a wise course of action?" Starfire asked. Robin shook his head.

"You saw what he's capable of Star. I'd rather have him where we can keep an eye on him, than out on the streets. Besides," he continued, "If he doesn't join, we'll be forced to arrest him as a vigilante. There are laws against that sort of thing." Cyborg gave him a look.

"Kind of a case of the pot and the kettle there, isn't it?" the half-machine deadpanned. As he said that, Jim stood up, and helped the little girl clamber onto Inari's back. The fox waited for the child to get a good grip in his ruff, before taking off down the street in an easy loping run.

"HEY!" Robin yelled. The fox ignored him, and turned the corner. Jim strode over, not seeming to care that he had just sent a little girl who-knows-where in the company of a creature who could quite literally eat her for lunch.

"Lighten up Teen Tight-ass, he's taking her to the closest authorities so she'll get checked out and her parents can be notified that she's safe." He looked at Robin expectantly, and a tense silence fell. After a moment, Jim slid his glasses down his nose and gave Robin a look. "Well?" he said expectantly.

"Well what?" Robin snapped.

"Isn't this the point where you ask me to join the Titans, so you can keep me safely under your thumb and off the streets?" Jim asked in a bored tone. Robin choked, but the bounty hunter ignored him. Starfire floated towards the older teen.

"How is it that you know of our intentions? Are you "psycho"?" Jim chuckled.

"The word is "psychic" Red. And no, it's just the most logical course of action. You can't afford to leave someone like me running around unsupervised, or else I'll end up "going to far"," he made air quotes as he spoke, "and end up putting someone in the ground. And there's laws against vigilantes, so you'd have to try to take me in eventually. Plus there's my experiences as a bounty hunter, my fighting prowess, and my various underground contacts to take into consideration as well. Not to mention my partner."

Robin appeared to have been struck silent, so Cyborg stepped up. "So are you interested?"

Jim shrugged. "Eh, not like I got anywhere else to go. Without my license, I can't claim any bounties, and I don't think getting my ass shipped off to prison would be to fun either. After all, the way my lucks been going, I'd end up cellmates with one of the guys I put away."

As he spoke, a roaring sound filled the air, and a familiar, to the Titans at least, space ship descended to the broken street. Jim crouched as he unsheathed his hip knife, a bowie knife with a seven inch serrated blade. "I don't suppose fighting off an alien invasion is to tough for the mighty Teen Titans?" Jim snapped, seeing that the heroes were making no moves whatsoever.

"They have not come to take over the planet, but to take my sister into custody," Starfire said, looking sadly at the ship, then to her comatose sibling.

As the Centari police disembarked, a strange look came over Jim's face. "Dude, what's wrong with you?" Beast Boy asked. Jim looked the alien cops up and down for a moment.

"Nothing, just trying to decide if I should be intimidated by 'em, or go find the biggest lemon wedges on the planet and crack those suckers open." There was a sort silence, before Cyborg began to snort in an attempt to contain his laughter. Beast Boy's face was a mixed look of horror and laughter that was hilarious to see.Raven arched one eyebrow, stifling a small smile at the look on the green teens face. The crustacean-like officers stopped in their tracks at the observation, giving wary glances to the older teen, before flashing their badges at Robin.

"We've come to take Blackfire of Tamaran into custody," one of them announced.

"Well you took your sweet time getting here, didn't you?" Jim snorted. One of them swung around to face the ex-bounty hunter, brandishing his claw.

"Do you have a complaint?" the alien asked tersely. Jim glared at him over his glasses.

"No, just an observation. If you retards had been doing your jobs right in the first place, none of this would have happened." He made a sweeping gesture with his arm, indicating the devastation around them. The Centari cop clacked his claw in agitation, before going over to Blackfire, and prepping her for transport, while his partner took a statement from Robin detailing the encounter.

After a few minutes they dragged off Blackfire, who was still comatose. The Blargian Raveners were a bit harder to corral, but a large dose of some sort of alien knockout gas courtesy of the Centari Police knocked them cold. The Centari officers loaded them into a special cryro-bay designed to transport dangerous beasts, and took off without so much as a thank you. "Dicks," Fox muttered as he watched the ship's ion trail dissipate. Inari, who had arrived back just moments before the alien police left, nodded his head in agreement. He turned to Robin. "Sooooo…what now?"

In reply, Robin held out a Titans communicator. "Now you come with us back to the tower." Beast Boy spoke up.

"Dude, what are we gonna call you? Jim, or Swamp Fox, or Kheen, or…" he was cut off as a bubble of black energy formed around his head, blocking all sound. Raven glared at him.

"I have a headache Beast Boy, so please, stop your inane babbling for at least one night." Swamp Fox smirked at the two.

"Just call me Fox, it makes things simpler that way. And as for going with you back to the tower, I'll follow you in the Swamp Thing." Cyborg blinked.

"What's the Swamp Thing?" Fox just smirked. He walked past the team, plucking the communicator from Robin's hand as he went, and disappeared into another alley. Inari just sat there, a canine grin on his muzzle. After a second, the sound of an engine came to their ears, and a large motorcycle came into view. It appeared to be intended for long road trips, with a large comfortable looking seat and huge saddlebags. It also had a large sidecar that was obviously not designed for human passengers. This was proven when Inari hopped into the seat and curled up, facing forward.

It was painted in urban camouflage patterns, with large spots of what at first looked to be rust, but upon closer inspection was actually a very detailed paint job. Written on the side of the car were the words "Swamp Thing", written in an oozing script. Fox indicated the bike with a grandiose sweep of his arm. "The Swamp Thing," he said simply.

Cyborg cocked an eyebrow, somewhat impressed. The bike was well cared for, and it showed "Nice ride." Fox shrugged.

"Eh, it got me from job to job." He revved the engine. "So who wants to bet me my first chore shift that I can beat your car and cycle to the tower?"

Robin and Cyborg smirked. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.

To Be Continued...

Well, hope you guys like this new project of mine. I'll try to continue working on all my stories through Basic, and type them up as soon as I graduate from it. Until then, stay cool people!

Fireinu- I'm surprised it hasn't stuck there already.

randomperson- He morphed from a hawk into a parrot, and then into another type of hawk.


	3. Running the Gauntlet

Raven stared for a moment, not really believing what she was seeing. "What are you doing?" she asked, her usual monotone tinged with a hint of disbelief. Fox looked up from his place at the stove, spatula in hand. He had forgone his uniform, instead dressing in a pair of jean shorts and a fatigue t-shirt that said "Now you can't see me".

"What's it look like I'm doing, I'm composing a sonnet." Raven rolled her eyes at the sarcastic edge in the newest Titan's voice.

It had been a week since Swamp fox and Inari had joined the Teen Titans, and as soon as they had gotten back to the tower, things had begun to change.

---FLASHBACK---

The race had ended in a tie between the R-Cycle and the Swamp Thing. While Robin's cycle was good at maneuvering, the bulk of the Swamp Thing was engine, and it packed quite a herd of horses into its chassis. Add that to the fact that Fox drove recklessly enough to make a New York cabbie piss his pants and whimper in sheer terror, and you had the two of them ending up in a tie at the entrance to the underwater tunnel that led to the tower's garage.

Once the team had disembarked and gone up to the main room, things had gotten strange again…

Fox looked around the common room for a moment, then looked to the wary faces of the Titans. "Okay guys let's clear the air a little. I don't expect you to trust us, until we've actually earned that trust. Until then, I pretty much expect some sort of surveillance, but please, try to keep it low key. If I find a camera in my toilet somebody's gonna get hurt." Cyborg and Beast Boy stifled chuckles at the example the bounty hunter used, while Raven and Robin both got repugnant looks on their faces. Starfire just colored at the thought of someone placing a camera in the toilet

"Looks like this guy is a realist," Cyborg muttered to Robin.

"Either that or he's trying to put us off our guard," Robin muttered back.

Fox smiled when he heard the remark, but didn't comment. "So.. where do I bunk?" he asked. Robin frowned.

"What about your pe-" a low menacing growl dared the Boy Wonder to complete that word, "-artner? Isn't he going to sleep with you?" Fox made a face at the wording of Robin's question, but shook his head no.

"Inari prefers to sleep in larger spaces with plenty of room to stretch out and more than one exit." He chuckled. To tell the truth, so do I., but I'll make do."

Fox had slept on the couch that night, and the next day he and Cyborg had gone in the T-Car to collect his belongings. They returned half an hour later towing a small trailer. When Robin had remarked on how little time that had taken, Fox's reply had been glib.

"When you move around as much as I did, packing only the essentials quickly is a must. I've packed that trailer so many times that I've gotten it down to an art form."

Fox had immediately settled into the room that had been designated as his. Raven had seen him hauling up a large dartboard studded with throwing knives, a laptop, and a few boxes. She could have sworn that one of them had had a shotgun sticking out of it, but she hadn't gotten a good enough look at it to be sure.

Fox had settled quickly, staying out of the way, but still managing to make his presence felt. He had quickly claimed the spare heavy bag in the training center, and had demonstrated his skills on it by pummeling it so hard and fast that it had seemed to smoke!

Occasionally he would disappear, and loud music could be heard blasting from his room, usually something by Guns N Roses, or some other older rock group. But then he would turn up in the damnedest places at the strangest times, like the security control center, or the security video archive in the middle of the night. He never gave an explanation about what he was doing, and when asked about it by Robin, he had replied evasively.

"Just doing what any fox would, learning the lay of the land." Then he'd left the other Titan puzzling over it, a worried crease between Robin's brows.

When Beast Boy had asked him why he always seemed to be going around at night Fox had replied that he was a night owl, which had aroused Starfire's curiosity at the unfamiliar term.

"Please, what is this owl of night, and how do you change into one? Are you a changeling like Beast Boy?" Fox had chuckled as Robin, who was also there, had quickly explained to her that he was using an expression that meant he preferred to work at night.

Inari was less intrusive than his partner, but was still visible. He didn't seem to intrude, he was just… there. He was always watching the Titans as they went about their daily business, and he never seemed to blink. Starfire had confided to Raven that Inari "creeps me out". Raven had just rolled her eyes, but secretly she was also a little put off by the fox's behavior. Beast Boy seemed nervous too, though not as much.

"Dude, I think he does it cause he knows it's creeping us out," he had said to Cyborg when the two were racing on the gamestation one day. Raven had merely glanced at the two over the top of her book

At one point Beast Boy and Cyborg had tried to tempt Fox into a racing game against them. He had declined. But when Cyborg had pressed the issue he had said, ""I will not bond. I will not share. I refuse to nurture." Dennis Leary. "Let me be and I'll let you live." Jim Kheen." Beast Boy had looked over to Raven, who was in her habitual pot, reading.

"Man Rae, this guy makes you look almost cheerful," Beast Boy whispered to Raven.

Her reply?

"What have I told you about calling me 'Rae'?" The changeling's ears drooped.

"Uh… don't?"

"You're learning."

Later Robin had tried to talk to Fox about how he was going to integrate into the others' training, but Fox had snorted and waved the issue away. When Robin had persisted, saying it could be a problem, Fox had said; "If you have a problem, and for some reason think that I can help, just remember this; if it can't be solved with liberal application of high explosives, guns, knives, torture, or sarcasm, don't bother coming to me."

All-in-all, most of the Titans were on the verge of seriously hurting their newest teammate, but every time their anger reached critical mass he'd do something to make them just have to forgive them. He'd gotten an oriental cookbook for Starfire that she'd been eyeing on a run through town, along with a package of Raven's favorite tea that she had run out of. Beast Boy had been appeased with a new music cd, while a replacement socket wrench for one that Cyborg had accidentally broken had calmed the 'borg's ire.

Only Robin had been left out for some reason, and while the former sidekick prided himself on his patience (AN: phfef, yeah right) he was quickly reaching the end of his rope.

---END FLASHBACK---

Raven sighed as she set about making her morning tea. Fox moved over to allow her room at the stove for a moment, then moved back into position. Raven raised an eyebrow when she caught him sprinkling something yellow over the food in the pan. "What are you doing?"

"Let's just say that Fuzzy and I decided to relieve Cyborg of one of his prejudices," Fox said, grinning evilly. Raven just rolled her eyes and set about preparing her tea.

'Not even here two weeks and Beast Boy's corrupted him. And here I thought he might have a modicum of sense,' Knowledge spoke up from inside Raven's head.

'At least I haven't been feeling any dark intentions off of him,' Raven retorted.

'True, but he's not nearly as open as Terra was," the smart emotion replied.

A few moments later, Fox moved the mass of eggs from the pan to a large plate. Raven looked at them for a moment.

"You can't be serious."

"Not if I can help it," was the somewhat cheerful reply. Fox scooped a portion of the eggs from the main plate to his own, and dug in with relish, occasionally draining some coffee from a mug at his elbow. A low grunt from the area in front of the couch announced Inari's awakening.

The fox padded into the kitchen, easily swung the door to the fridge open, and snarled back at the blue goop inside, before gently picking up a plate covered with plastic wrap in his jaws and setting it on the floor, closing the fridge with a shoulder. A few scratches with his claws took care of the wrapping, and the fox settled down to a leisurely breakfast of a leftover ham and bacon sandwich. A groggy Beast Boy stumbled in a moment later, looking rather ruffled in shorts and a wrinkled old AC/DC t-shirt. He sat down at the table, and gave the eggs the evil eye.

"You do know that you're eating a pile of murdered baby chickens, don't you?" he asked Fox. Fox shrugged.

""Not eating meat is a decision, eating meat is an instinct;" Dennis Leary." Beast boy just grunted, and began to make a plate of his tofu waffles. Cyborg, Robin and Starfire showed as he was finishing up.

"Greetings friends, on this glorious morning!" Starfire chirped. Fox took one long pull on his coffee, before getting up and pouring another mug.

"If I'm gonna be dealing with that kind of perkyness in the mornings on a daily basis I'm gonna need to stock up on coffee," he muttered to himself. The bounty hunter usually slept in a little past when everyone else woke up, but he had decided that a change was in order.

"Alright!" Cyborg exclaimed, rubbing his hands together, "This looks great!" He grabbed a plate and shoveled a huge helping onto it, before sitting down and digging in with gusto. He looked up at Fox after a few moments. "Dis is delifis!" he grinned, showering small pieces of egg everywhere. Just as he had finished his first helping, and was in the middle of getting seconds, Beast Boy sat down with his waffles, and, quite calmly and deliberately, scooped a portion of the eggs onto his plate. The silence was deafening.

"Friend Beast Boy, why have you suddenly forsaken your vegetarianism?" Starfire looked shocked.

"Did I miss something?" Raven asked.

"Um, Beast Boy, you _do_ realize that those are eggs right?" Robin asked, looking slightly worried. He was having flashbacks of the changeling's behavior during the "beast" incident. Fox chuckled.

"Actually Rob, you guys were out of eggs. So…" He held up a small bottle of yellow food coloring. Cyborg's face was a picture of pure horror.

"Wait a sec, y-you mean that I just ate a plate of…"

"TOFU!" Beast Boy exclaimed, grinning madly. "Told you I'd get you to try it someday."

"This was just _too_ easy," Fox smirked. He turned and gave Beast Boy a mock bow. "A masterful performance Fuzzy. Not even Raven had an inkling of our plan." Raven's eyes widened fractionally as she recalled the "murdered chickens" comment. It had been a setup!

Cyborg began to get green in the face, before turning and running from the kitchen. A few moments later, loud retching could be heard throughout the tower. Robin pushed his plate away. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not hungry anymore." Fox shrugged, and snagged the plate rim with his fork.

"Suit yerself bird boy, more for me'n Fuzzy."

"Better not eat too much. You're going to get your first taste of the obstacle course today." Fox choked on his coffee. He wiped a stray drip from his goatee, and glared at Robin.

"You sure you're a robin and not a cuckoo? You need to _tell_ people about this kind of thing, _beforehand_!" Inari's head appeared over the top of the table, and he gave Robin an annoyed look, before stealing half of the tofu eggs off of Fox's plate. At that moment, Cyborg staggered in, looking severely ill. His face fell further as he saw Inari snatch the food.

"That aint natural," he muttered.

"Define natural," Fox quipped, taking one last sip from his mug. He stood up and left the room, muttering something to Inari about getting prepped. The fox chewed his last mouthful of soy product, gulped it down, and lazily followed after his partner. Robin's gaze followed the two for a moment, a wicked gleam in his eye.

'Cuckoo huh?'

---

A short time later

---

Fox toed the starting line of the obstacle course, digging in slightly to get better traction. Beside him Inari gave a low growl of anticipation, his eyes alert, his ears perked. Fox gave him a sidelong look. "Time to strut our stuff partner." Inari answered with a short rise in the pitch of his growl. "You're right, let's give 'em a good show."

Up in the control booth Robin and Cyborg looked over the various obstacles they would be throwing in Fox's way. Down on the ground level observation spot Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire waited for the run to commence. Beast Boy looked a bit concerned, worrying one lip with his teeth. After a few moments of silence he spoke.

"Dude. I hope Robin doesn't go all extreme on Fox." Starfire looked a little disturbed by this comment.

"Beast Boy, why would Robin wish to go "all extreme" upon friends Fox and Inari?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it Star, Beast Boy's mouth is just running without his brain checking the output. Again."

Beast Boy got a fighting glint in his eye, but it was suppressed as quickly as it came. "DUDE! I'm just saying that Robin might see Fox as a threat to his position as leader, and he may take…'steps', if ya know what I mean."

Raven looked at him blankly for a moment.

"That's it, no more Godfather marathons for you."

Back up in the control booth, Cyborg gave Robin a thumbs up. "Everything's ready man. You wanna give him the green light?" Robin nodded and punched the "START" button on the console. A large display of lights lit up next to Fox, and began to count down.

5…

4…

3…

2…

BUZ-Z-Z-Z-!

At the buzzer Fox and Inari both stepped out at the same time, Inari easily keeping in stride with the bounty hunter as Fox ran low to the ground, his duster flaring behind him like a cape. The bounty hunter had removed all extra gadgets and knives from his duster, keeping his arsenal down to the bare essentials/

They hadn't even gone three feet when the ground beside them began to rumble as huge pillars shot upwards on either side. Fox shouted something unflattering about Robin as the pillars began to crash into the ground behind him and Inari. Before making a quick hand signal in the fox's direction.

The two veered off away from the other and weaved around the crumbling columns until they were on the outside edge of the course, still running parallel to each other as the obstacles crashed harmlessly down into the center of the course behind them.

Up in the booth Robin was looking on in disbelief. Cyborg raised his eyebrow as the two continued on their way down the course, the bounty hunter's long legs seeming to eat up the distance.

"Well, that's one way to get around that one." Robin shook himself like a dog coming out of the water, before punching in a code on the console.

"It's a good tactical maneuver, but let's see what he does when it backfires on him."

On the ground Beast Boy and Starfire were loudly cheering their new teammate on, while Raven watched in silence, brows creased as she studied the older teen's moves.

Back on the course, the pillars sank back into the ground. Fox and Inari made as if to join back up in the center of the course, but before they had moved more than a handful of paces towards each other, the ground between them shuddered, before simply dropping away into a yawning abyss that stretched all the way to the finish line. Inari and Fox were now trapped on ten foot wide strips of land with an intervening gap of almost ten yards!

Fox stopped running for, walked over to the chasm, looked into the depths of the trench for a moment, then looked up and towards the control booth, before yelling something unflattering, unprintable, and downright un-nice about Robin's sexual preference and taste in clothes.

Beast Boy choked on the water he had been taking a drink of. He and Raven stared at Fox, stunned by the sheer _stupidity_ of saying _those_ things at _this_ point in time.

Starfire looked at Raven, a wary look on her face. "Those were not kind words, were they Raven?" The goth shook her head.

"Not by a longshot Star," Beast Boy said.

Up in the control booth Cyborg was giving Robin a leery look. The half-machine could only think one thing as he saw Robin's fists clench and his eyebrow start to twitch.

'Oh boy, it's on now.'

Robin's fingers fairly flew as he put in a series of codes. As he finished punching the last button a series of mechanical whirs could be heard as more than twenty lasers moved into position along the remainder of the course.

All of them were locked on Fox.

The bounty hunter smirked as he pulled out his oakleys and a small stick-like piece of metal with a small button on top. "Looks like things just got more fun," he smirked, before he pressed the button.

Last night, Fox had been making one of his nightly sweeps of the Tower, and had stumbled across the control panel for the tower PA system, which incidentally was linked to the obstacle course PA as well. Never one to pass up the chance for some (relatively) harmless mischief, he'd set to work. A half hour and some very creative re-wiring later and…

Robin winced as a spike of white noise crackled through the PA system. However the wince turned to an open mouthed gape as the noise tapered off, an was replaced by the measured beat of a bass guitar and drum, before a keyboard joined in. As the lasers opened fire on Fox, the vocals of the song started.

_You get up every morning_

_From your alarm clock's warning_

_Take the 8:15 into the city_

_There's a whistle up above_

_And people pushin', people shovin'_

_And the girls all try to look pretty_

As BTO blared from the speakers, Fox began a dazzling display of acrobatics, pulling several small canisters from his duster as he did so. Three of these he hurled at the lasers on his side, while the others he pitched over towards Inari. As they sailed through the air, Beast Boy's keen eyes spotted a shift in the shape of the fox, something that didn't seem to belong.

_And if your train's on time_

_You can get to work by nine_

_And start your slaving job to get your pay_

_If you ever get annoyed_

_Look at me I'm self-employed_

_I love to work at nothing all day_

What it was was answered soon enough when a pencil-thin beam of red light flashed from it, lancing through the canisters and causing them to explode into a thick smokescreen that settled over the fox.

_And I'll be..._

_Taking care of business every day_

_Taking care of business every way_

_I've been taking care of business, it's all mine_

_Taking care of business and working overtime_

_Work out!_

More flashes of red light streamed from the cover of the smokescreen, each one slicing through a laser on Fox's side with the precision of a surgeons scalpel.

_If it were easy as fishin'_

_You could be a musician_

_If you could make sounds loud or mellow_

_Get a second-hand guitar_

_Chances are you'll go far_

_If you get in with the right bunch of fellows_

As this was going on, Fox had pulled his Desert Eagles out, and was preceding to show off his moving target skills. That is, he was moving to avoid the rapidly dwindling laser fire as he blasted apart his targets, the lasers on Inari's side.

_People see you having fun_

_Just a-lying in the sun_

_Tell them that you like it this way_

_It's the work that we avoid_

_And we're all self-employed_

_We love to work at nothing all day_

The two were steadily advancing, laying down a steady stream of fire as they did so. The other Titans could only watch wide-eyed at this profound example of teamwork.

_And we be..._

_Taking care of business every day_

_Taking care of business every way_

_I've been taking care of business, it's all mine_

_Taking care of business and working overtime_

_Work out!_

"Woah," Beast Boy breathed under his breath, to stunned for a more witty observation. Raven was, for once, at a loss for a sarcastic comment.

"Wow," she said.

_(Spoken) Take good care of my business_

_When I'm away, every day whoo!_

_You get up every morning_

_From your alarm clock's warning_

_Take the 8:15 into the city_

_There's a whistle up above_

_And people pushin', people shovin'_

_And the girls all try to look pretty_

As the two continued, now almost completely unopposed, Robin shook off the stupor he had fallen into, and tried to bring more lasers, metal tendrils, _anything_ online to slow the two down. But any sign of movement on the course was blasted before it even had a chance to manifest itself as a danger to the two and they continued their steady pace.

_And if your train's on time_

_You can get to work by nine_

_And start your slaving job to get your pay_

_If you ever get annoyed_

_Look at me I'm self-employed_

_We love to work at nothing all day_

_Taking care of business every day_

_Taking care of business every way_

_I've been taking care of business, it's all mine_

_Taking care of business and working overtime_

_Work out!_

Fox smiled broadly, tipped his hat to Robin as he stepped across the finish line, bobbing his head in time to the music as the song began to wrap up, and put on his Oakleys.

_Takin' care of business_

_Takin' care of business_

_Takin' care of business_

_Takin' care of business_

_Taking care of business every day_

_Taking care of business every way_

_I've been taking care of business, it's all mine_

_Taking care of business and working overtime_

_Work out!_

_Takin' care of business_

_Takin' care of business_

_Takin' care of business_

_Takin' care of business_

As the last chords faded, the Titan's gathered round Fox and Inari. Robin pointed to the smoking laser barrel that was still protruding from the black fox's side.

"And the reason you didn't tell us about _that_ little trick is?"

Fox shrugged.

"You never asked."

Robin slapped a hand over his eyes as Beast Boy and Cyborg cracked up. Even Raven gave a ghost of a smile, but it was there and gone before anyone could see it.

Or so she thought. A pair of emerald eyes had been watching her, as they usually did, and had caught the expression. Something seized up in this individual's gut as they realized that Raven may have been attracted to Fox. 'But I don't like Raven like… okay, lying to others is wrong, lying to yourself is just pathetic. But if she likes _him_, what can _I_ do?'

No one noticed Inari sniff the air in this individual's direction, before subtly nudging Jim. No one noticed Fox's eyes flash for a moment behind his mirrored lenses before a thoughtful expression crossed his face for a fleeting second.

And, no one noticed a lithe, shadowy figure drop to the ground on the other side of the Titan's island, a belt draped over his shoulder, a red X-shaped mark decorating the buckle.


	4. A Puzzle wrapped in an Enigma

AN: Greetings from the Dark Continent!

Fox and Beast Boy cringed as another red blast winged over their cover. Beast Boy sighed. "It's days like this I wish we could have one normal movie night," he muttered. Fox laughed as he peeked over the edge of the counter, and fired both Desert Eagles, ducking down again as red laser beams returned fire.

"Normal? Where's the fun on that?" he chuckled, pulling a grenade from his duster and yanking the pin with his teeth. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" he shouted, tossing it over the counter almost carelessly. A blast of red beams punctured the canister before it had sailed more than a few feet, releasing the smokescreen within. Beast Boy and Fox made their moves at that second, scrambling in opposite directions.

The two had volunteered to go get the movies for tonight's movie night. Beast Boy because he always volunteered, while Fox had been volun-told, so Robin and Cyborg could be sure that the changeling didn't just pick up a bunch of slapstick comedies or an armful of cheesy horror flicks. Again. None of the other Titans had bothered to go for various reasons.

Raven had been immersed in a new book, one on animal psychology. She had finally had enough of Inari's strange behavior and was determined to find out why he was acting the way he was. Fox had just smiled a smug smile at the attempt to understand his partner.

He had long ago concluded that the fox was as crazy as he was, which was how they understood each other so well.

Robin had been hard at work compiling the rather slipshod files of Fox's former bounties that the meta-hunter had provided him with upon requesting them, so that they would at least have _some_ clue as to what kind of baggage the two new Titans were bringing with them.

Starfire had been gleefully trying out a recipe she had found in the cookbook Jim had given her a few days earlier, and the other Titans were actually kind of looking forward to it. Starfire was following the instructions exactly in each recipe she found, because this particular book contained examples of what could happen if a dish was prepared wrong. Some of the descriptions were pretty graphic for a cookbook, but the fact that they were in handwritten ink in the margins said more for Fox's creativity than for the dangers of not following the recipe. Starfire however, had fallen for the ruse, and was even now concentrating on how much soy sauce she added to the mix.

Cyborg had been last seen working on his car, installing a new nitrous system that cut down on NOX consumption while maintaining the same speeds as the previous system. Inari had been in the garage with him, lying down to the side and watching the big man work with something close to fascination.

"You know for some psychotic biker who doesn't look like he could fix his own bike, much less build a giant robot dragon with laser eyebeams… you've got some pretty nice toys Rancid," Fox complemented, looking upwards. From atop his newest "pet's" head, a giant black European-style robo-dragon, Johnny Rancid cackled.

"Flattery will get you flattened," the biker sneered. "Drake… squish 'em." The beast lifted its leg to obey, but a huge set of green jaws clamped around the appendage. Beast Boy had used the distraction provided by the bounty hunter to slip close to the robot, before assuming the form of a gigantic, prehistoric crocodile. Seven inch teeth crunched down into the armor plating on the leg, compacting the metal into useless scrap. Beast Boy tossed his head, twisting it as he did so, and the leg snapped off, leaving a sparking stump that was leaking hydraulic fluid and oil. "HEY!" Johnny snapped, bringing out his laser pistol. "Chew on this you oversized pair of boots," he growled, taking aim.

Then his gun crumpled into a useless mass around his hand, courtesy of a familiar black aura. He swore under his breath as a familiar battle cry sounded.

"TITANS, GO!"

Starfire let loose a war cry as she blasted downwards, only to be met by red beams from the dragon's eyes. "STARFIRE!" Robin shouted as one of the beams clipped the princess. Star's flight path wavered for a moment, before she regained control. Robin let out a sigh of relief, right before Fox tackled him out of the way of a laser blast aimed at the teen. Apparently Johnny had more than one pistol this time.

"Keep your head in the game lover-boy," Fox snapped. 'Time for a little persuasive negotiation,' he thought, bringing his Eagles to bear, and letting them make three _very_ eloquent arguments for Rancid's immediate surrender.

_**Blam Blam Blam**_

Rancid threw himself forward, barely managing to stay on the top of his creation's head as the bullets whizzed past. He would later swear that one of them had even parted his greasy hair.

Back on the ground, Fox took careful aim this time, squinting as he brought Rancid back into the center of his sights, before a green arm knocked into his own, breaking his concentration and ruining his shot. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Fox demanded of Beast Boy.

The changeling was stone-faced as he pointed to the side. Fox followed the green teen's finger with his eyes, and then swore under his breath. A group of little kids were huddled behind a piece of wreckage, peering wide-eyed at the battle. Fox swung around and gave the battlefield a quick survey. Robin, Raven and Starfire were all running interference, though Raven seemed to be distracted by the mech for some reason. Cyborg was hanging back, looking for a clear shot, while Inari played distraction, his relatively weak laser blasts only serving to keep Johnny's head down, while seeming to enrage the dragon-mech. Fox whipped out his comm.

"Robin, we got civvies over here, six kids. Get em the hell outta the line of fire, me and the kid'll cover you." Beast Boy scowled at the nickname, but was quickly silenced as one of the kids gave a scared cry. A huge chunk of debris had been dislodged by the dragon's tail as it flailed about, and it was falling towards the kids.

"_NO_!" Fox screamed, running towards the children. As he got nearer he saw a black aura forming around the boulder, but it wasn't slowing it down fast enough, it would still come down on top of the kids. "God, if you let those kids die, I swear I'm gonna storm the fucking Pearly Gates and personally kick your ass!" Fox swore under his breath. He didn't notice what looked like a heat shimmer form in the center of the group, before a teen in a black bodysuit, decorated with red slash-like X's and a skull mask dropped to the ground. Fox blinked, but kept running.

Apparently, God was in the mood to humor his threats today.

"Grab my arms, NOW" the teen instructed in an electronically masked voice. The kids didn't even think to wonder, grabbing onto this stranger's arms. He reached down and punched the buckle of his belt. The entire group seemed to shimmer in and out of reality for a moment before vanishing completely in front of Fox's disbelieving eyes, right before the boulder slipped from Raven's telekinetic grasp, her concentration broken when the dragon tried to swat her out of the air. Only a timely grab by Starfire kept the young witch from being flattened.

The group appeared a few yards away, near Robin, clustered around the black-clad teen, who quickly shook them off and pressed his belt buckle again, vanishing. "X!" Robin bellowed, but Cyborg hollered at him from where he was trying to get to Rancid.

"Forget him for now Robin, get those kids out of here!" Robing nodded and began to herd the frightened youngsters to safety. Fox made a mental note to check up on the files on Red-X, apparently he had missed the part where the thief had stolen the belt again.

Fox reached into his duster, fishing for a micro-second before pulling out what looked like a metal spike with a small antenna on one end. He tossed the thing in the air, flipping it once, catching it and holding it like a dart. Depressing a small button caused the thing to extend slightly, circuitry showing up through the crevices as it began to give off a low, almost sub-sonic hum. "Chew on this gear-head," he muttered, throwing it dart-style. The spike thudded into the metal beast's chest, punching into the metal easily thanks to the sub-sonic vibrations it was giving off. The circuitry began to pulse with yellow light, as Fox removed a small stick-detonator from his duster.

"And another one bites the dust," he grinned, punching the button.

The results were strangely anti-climactic.

The dart lit up for a moment, before a pulse of yellow energy blasted through the heart of the machine. The dragon froze in mid-thrash, a spark or two jumping from behind its eye lenses, before a whisp of smoke drifted from its open maw.

"I hope your money-back guarantee includes Electromagnetic pulses Rancid!" Fox yelled. Rancid's reply was something not heard in polite company, or even impolite company for that matter. At that moment X dropped out of thin air, perching on the shoulder of the defeated mecha for a moment, before glaring in Fox's direction. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," Fox snorted, crossing his arms, while at the same time moving his duster subtly to the side to expose the butts of his Magnums.

Red X said nothing for a moment, before flickering out of sight once more. Fox spun as the hair on the back of his neck prickled, his eyes seeming to glow behind his sunglasses. "Whadda ya want skullface?" he snarled.

He managed to dodge the X shaped restrictive band the first time, but the other teen was slightly faster than he was, and managed to wrap him up tighter than a present under a Christmas tree with a second salvo. "Do you have any idea what you just _did_?" the electronically masked voice snarled, grabbing Fox by the collar and hauling him up so the two were face to face. Fox smirked.

"Stopped the bad guy, destroyed said bad guy's weapon, and managed to look good doing it?" X threw him back to the ground.

"I was hired to acquire a chip that was part of the mech's makeup! Thanks to you it's a worthless scrap of silicon now!" Fox smirked even as he spit blood from when he had bit his tongue as X had thrown him.

"Well; ain't that a cryin' shame."

Heads snapped around so fast that Fox was sure there would be some severe whiplash effects later at the new voice.

Sitting on top of the dragon mechs head was a rather strange individual, who looked as if he had been pulled from a rather successful trio of video games.

"DUDE, IT'S SLY COOPER!" Beast Boy shouted, pointing dramatically.

Indeed, the newcomer looked quite a bit like the slick thief, being covered with short, dark gray fur that seemed to shift a little under the light. He lacked the large ring-tail that the character had, but his face was adorned by the bandit's mask of black fur that all raccoons had. His ears were elfin, like Beast Boy's and his hair was a grayish color. He was clad in simple gray garments, which appeared to be some sort of modified sweat and hoodie combo, and there looked to be something heavy, and somewhat large stashed away in the pocket on the front of the hoodie. The sweat bottoms were a bit odd, as the cuffs were lined with elastic as usual, but the waist was held up by a belt.

Said belt had various small pouches hanging from it, giving it the look of a utility belt. In the back, tucked nearly out of sight, were two metal handles to some sort of weapons, but what ever was attached to the handles was hidden by the cloth of the pants, as they had been stuck down the waistband of said clothing. The teen chuckled as nimble, clawed fingers deftly worked without him looking down at all.

"Sorry pal, but I'm not exactly Sly Cooper. Just call me…Coon." The Titans, frozen by shock (or by X's restraining device), could only watch as Red X stood ramrod straight, indignation pouring from every pore.

"You back-stabbing son of a _BITCH!_" Coon shook a scolding finger at the thief in mock surprise.

"Now now, just 'cause I got your little belt back for you doesn't mean a thing X, it's my job to retrieve things, and the labs that created this chip are giving me quite a bundle to have it returned, no matter the condition." As he spoke there was a slight 'sproing' sound, and Coon lifted a slightly blackened microchip from the interior of the dragon mech's head. He tucked the chip away in a pouch on his belt, before sliding the small instrument that he had used to retrieve it into another. He stood, dusted his knees off, and gave the Titans and two villains a cheery wave and a cheeky wink.

"Well, asta luego mi amigos," he grinned, before jumping off the head of the dragon into its shadow, where he seemed to merely melt away. Red X, with a very colorful curse, punched his belt buckle and vanished as well.

Beast Boy looked over at Robin, the tips of his ears twitching from curiosity. "Dude, what was that all about?" Robin merely looked grave as he held his chin in his hand.

"I don't know Beast Boy, but I intend to find out."

There was a moment of silence, and then…

"I hate to interrupt your cool pondering pose and all, but do you think you could maybe, possibly…_GET ME THE FUCK OUTTA THIS THING_!"

---

Later at the Tower

---

Fox was leaning back in a busted old armchair he'd salvaged from only God knew where, arms crossed and a decidedly put-out look on his face. Inari sat beside him, and both were watching their leader pace the floor with something very close to sadistic amusement. Robin had been trying to figure out where this "Coon" character had come from for the past three hours. He'd checked all his contacts and databases, and so far nothing had turned up anything on a thief calling himself by the name of Coon, or matching the description of the teen they'd encountered earlier. It was Slade all over again, and Robin was on the verge of tearing his hair out! So he'd called a team meeting to try and figure something out.

So far it wasn't going so well.

Starfire watched Robin pace with sad eyes, twitching as if she wanted to go over and calm him somehow every time he ran his hands through his now thoroughly mussed hair. Beside her Beast Boy was absently thumbing through a comic book he had pulled out of the couch cushions, chuckling quietly every so often at Archie or Jughead's antics. On the other side of Starfire, Cyborg was now playing a game of solitaire on the monitor in his arm, while Raven hovered in a corner, meditating silently.

Fox, more out of boredom than anything else, finally decided to get the ball rolling. "So…I take it you found squat huh?" Robin glared at the older teen, then sighed and nodded his head yes. "Who exactly did you ask anyway?" Fox continued, sounding slightly curious.

Robin began to tick names of organizations off on his fingers. "I contacted Gotham PD, Jump City PD, Steel City PD, Metropolis PD, and even the League. None of them had heard of this "Coon" character. Then I turned to some…other…sources, but no one could give me information on that front either! It's like this guy didn't even exist until today!" A smirk flashed across Jim's face, there and gone before anyone noticed it. He got up, and sauntered over to one of the computers they had in the main room.

"Tell me something Rob, you ever seen "The Saint"?" he asked, logging on. Robin shook his head as he and the rest of the Titans gathered behind him. Raven cracked an eye open and glanced at them, before sighing and dropping gracefully from her position in mid-air, silently padding over to the group.

Cyborg scratched his chin as a sudden thought struck him. "Waitta minute, wasn't "The Saint" about some super thief or something like that?" Fox chuckled.

"Bingo, Cy. You remember how his clients contacted him?" Cyborg thought for a minute, before snapping his fingers.

"Yeah! They used a chat room about orchids, and the job requests and replies were hidden in average looking posts. You had to know the code to use, so all his clients were by reference only." Jim smirked again as he brought up a comic and cartoon discussion forum/on-line RPG site called "SuperBuddies" and clicked on a forum titled "Capin's Bar and Grill". Once there he clicked on a thread called "SkeletonKey's booth". Digging through his duster with one hand, he pulled out a jump drive and plugged it into the computer, immediately opening up a small program on it. Without a word he copied the text from the latest message, a post by SkeletonKey himself, which looked to merely be an inane ramble by some little kid, and pasted it in the other program. He clicked a button on the window. The screen blinked, before words in the text began to disappear.

After a few moments the remaining jumble of words and letters were compiled together to form a short message: "Item retrieved, will deliver upon reception of other half of payment". Robin and the rest of the Titans stared at the message for a moment, before the masked teen's eyes narrowed. He glared at the smug looking teen in front of the keyboard.

"You knew." Fox shrugged modestly.

"Of course; I traveled in different circles than you and the Bat. You may have bullied and bribed your informants, but I knew the names of their kids; I could ask how their sick pets were; I was able to remind them about anniversaries they might have missed otherwise. You know the old saying bird boy, "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar,"." Robin clenched a fist, before growling under his breath and stalking away.

"You shouldn't bait him like that."

Jim turned towards Raven, an eyebrow raised. "Oh?"

"I don't see what he's done to you to earn this type of treatment."

Cyborg nodded. "Raven's right y'know, you really need to chill things between Rob and you." Jim snorted.

"I don't like his attitude."

"Dude, I know that Robin has a major stick up his butt, but he's pretty cool. Most of the time."

Any further conversation on the subject was dropped as Robin came back, looking calmer, if only slightly.

"Okay Fox, think you could bother with sharing some of this information on your own, or do I have to get a crowbar to pry it out of you like usual?" Jim grinned.

"Fine Robbie, you caught me in a good mood, so I'll humor you." He thought for a moment, idly tugging the scraggly hairs on the end of his chin. "Coon's the best there is, or as close to it as you'll find. Nothing stops him when he takes a job. He's very big on being subtle and stealthy and all that, but when all else fails he's not afraid to fall back on brute force. I've heard something about a partner, but none of his scenes indicate more than one man on the job. I've never heard of a lock he can't pick." He took out a butterfly knife as he spoke, and began to idly twirl the deadly blade around, the snicker of the steel giving his words an odd menace.

"He's not one to cross, and cornering him is only something done by the suicidal or stupid. He's got no official criminal record whatsoever, and his win/loss ratio is almost perfect. Compared to him Red X and Cat Woman are novice bunglers who couldn't tell a diamond from a piece of rock candy." With those words he snapped his knife shut and got up, making as if to leave.

Robin snorted. "It sounds like you admire this crook." Fox stopped on a dime, before turning around to look the former sidekick in the eye. "Of course I do, I have a great deal of respect for such a master of his trade. He does his jobs fast, clean, and without involving civilians whatsoever. I find all of those admirable traits in an opponent."

Raven's eyebrow raised at the description. "Opponent?" she repeated.

Jim shrugged, the harness for his guns creaking slightly as he did so. "Best way to describe him. We're not enemies, we just fight sometimes."

"Kinda like brothers," Beast Boy murmured. Jim froze for a second, before smiling, albeit slightly shakily.

"Yeah, I guess so kid." He ignored the changeling's indignant squawk as he left the room, the other Titan's questioning gazes following him.

---

Later

---

Fox strode into the main room dressed in civilian attire, a pair of battered jeans, a scruffy Iron Maiden tee, and a leather jacket. His eyes were both a uniform brown, and in no way did he resemble his usual self. Robin looked up from where he was going over the paper, Starfire having managed to keep him out of the evidence room with the help of some logic on Raven's part, and raised an eyebrow.

"What prompted the sudden change?" Jim gave a predatory smile.

"Gotta go talk to a few people champ, and I don't need a lot of attention while I'm at it." Robin set down the paper.

"You'll need backup, Beast Boy or I can go with you." The smile fell from Jim's face.

"I appreciate the whole "looking out for ya" thing, but I've got all the backup I'm gonna need." He moved his coat to the side, showing that he was still wearing his harness and holsters under his jacket, before reaching back into his sleeve with one hand and producing his knife. Robin sighed; Fox was going to take a lot more getting used to.

"Fine. You've got your communictor and tracking beacon though, right?" Fox nodded, fishing the comm out of his pocket, along with what looked like a folded pocket knife. Robin nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, just don't do anything stupid." Fox glared at the boy.

"Yes mother." With that the bounty hunter stomped out, muttering something about stupid uptight eyesores under his breath. Robin shook his head again.

"I'm gonna have to deal with him, one way or another," he decided to himself. Unknown to either boy, Inari slipped out of the tower too, padding over to a rock outcropping that over shadowed a small cave.

The fox gave a low bark, which was answered by a short series of chittering noises from within the cave. The fox nodded for a few moments, before heading back to the tower. Behind him, a huge spider crawled out of the alcove, and down into a crack. There was a flash of light from the small crack, and then nothing remained to disturb the night air.

---

A seedy looking bar

---

Fox strolled into the bar casually, a solid strut and subtle set of his shoulders showing that he expected no trouble that he couldn't handle from the patrons. He moseyed through as if he owned the place, until a rough hand brought him up short.

"Jus' who you think you are comin' in ere like that?" A large man slurred slightly. Fox calmly looked at the huge ham-hand on his shoulder, then up at the owner, whose build made Cyborg look like a twig. He calmly lifted one arm, and batted the hand away.

"Someone you don't want to mess with," He said coolly. As Fox continued on his way, the man grabbed a half-empty bottle from his table, and swung for the teen's head. He froze halfway though, as the short, rat-faced bartender suddenly pulled out a fistful of daggers from his apron, and pressed them to either side of the brute's neck.

"Bruno, what have I told you about making trouble in my place?" the man asked in a lightly scolding tone, as if he were talking to a disobedient child. Bruno started to shake, as tears leaked from his eyes. He seemed stone cold sober now.

"I-I'm sorry Silk, just _please_, _don't kill me-e-e!_" The man broke down bawling. The barkeep, Silk, rolled his eyes at the dramatics.

"Bruno, you're one of my best normal customers, do you think for one second I'd kill someone that lucrative? Just try and find a better outlet for all that anger, alright? Go beat up some of those druggie punks hanging out in the alley, take up painting; something constructive."

With that the short man whisked his daggers out of sight, and took the cloth he had been using to polish a glass back up, blue eyes going back to scanning the room with quick glances that took in everything. Bruno turned and tottered out the door on quaking legs.

During the entire event not a single patron had looked up from their drinks in surprise or shock, though one had glanced up, sighed loudly, and then looked back down at the racing form in his hands.

Silk turned back to the bar to find Fox seated in Bruno's former spot. One blond brow raised. "Aint'chu a little young to be hittin the sauce?" Fox gave him a look, and the older man broke down laughing.

"Alright, alright, I'll knock off the bad barkeep routine. Now," he added, settling his elbows on the bar in a businessman-like manner, "What can I do for my favorite nephew?"

---

To Be Continued…

Yes I know, I've been gone a long time and yet I still leave you guys hanging, but I'm going someplace with this. Not sure where yet, but I'll let you know when I get there.


End file.
